The Kingston family commemorated Independence Day with a boom, albeit unintentionally.
Luana Kingston was sitting in the living room of her home, 1201 N. 200 West, a few minutes past noon Friday when she heard a loud explosion. Simultaneously, she felt the hardwood floor rise beneath her feet.Her neighbors to the south also felt the concussion.
The preliminary conclusion of fire investigators was that gas vapor accumulating under the basement ceiling from a leak caused the explosion. The gas was possibly ignited by the water heater kicking in.
The explosion resulted in a fire that gutted much of the pioneer-era house, causing up to $100,000 in damage, estimated Bountiful Fire Marshal Michael Barfuss.
Kingston and her six children living at home hustled out of the house and across the street and called 911 immediately after the explosion. No one was injured.
It took 46 firefighters from the Bountiful, South Davis and Farmington fire departments an hour and 15 minutes to extinguish the blaze. The house has many additions, crawl spaces, attics and hollow floors that made it difficult to find and put out all the hot spots.
"We were chasing it from one room to another," said Bountiful fire Capt. Bob Stell. Firefighters were reduced to knocking holes in walls and ceilings to get to all of the burning areas.
"All the kids got out OK. That's the main thing," Luana Kingston said. "You can replace things, but you can't replace kids."